Finnish government defends participation in Durban III process in New York, says can't change process from the outside.

Dear Reader,
As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before.
Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications,
like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations,
we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open
and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news
and analyses from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World.

A contingent over over 1,000 Finns showed up last week at rally in Helsinki to
call for Jerusalem to remain the undivided capital of the Jewish
state.

Jouni Suninen, a pro-Israel activist who attended the rally in
Helsinki, told The Jerusalem Post via e-mail on Wednesday, “ I went there to support
the undivided Jerusalem. There were many speakers. I remember Gideon Bolotowski
from the Helsinki Jewish Community, Pekka Sartola who has written many books
from Israel/ Palestine, MEP [member of European Parliament] Hannu Takkula, in
Finland , and well known singer Viktor Klimenko, and some 3-4 other speakers
whom I did not know before.

"They spoke briefly and right to the point,
expressing in clear terms why Jerusalem must not be divided. In the end a
manifest was read, directed to President Halonen and the Finnish Government. It
was summary of the speeches held.”

Suninen, who traveled from his
hometown Kouvola to attend the rally last week in Helsinki, said that the "Finns
are against division of Jerusalem if they know Middle East political history,
the Balfour Declaration, the San Remo Convention and the Palestine Mandate. They
are for division if they do not know these things."

Most Finns, he added, "do not know,
unfortunately, although we are working hard to spread correct information. Then
there are of course religious people who trust on Bible and are against division
for religious reasons.”

Finland defends Durban participation

JPOST VIDEOS THAT MIGHT INTEREST YOU:

While most of the major European democracies have pulled out of the
Durban III anti-racist conference slated for Thursday, saying that the
event is plagued by racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, Finland and
other northern European countries are moving forward with their
participation in the event.

In an e-mail to the
Post on Wednesday, Director of the Human Rights Policy Unit and
the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Erik Lundberg wrote that
“Finland considers the work
against racism and discrimination, in all its forms, a high political
priority."

Finland, he said, "has been constructively participating in and supporting the Durban
process and all the UN work against racisim and discrimination. Finland
will participate in the Durban meeting at ministerial level.”

He
continued that “We support an outcome that gives strong political support for
the continued work against racism and discrimination in all its forms. We regret
the fact that the process has been politicized and hope that we can refocus on
the original purpose of the Durban Process and Program of action, i.e. the
struggle against racism and discrimination in all its forms at the national and
international levels.”

Kenneth Sikorski, a veteran observer of
Finnish-Israeli relations, told the Post on Wednesday that “the recent Finnish
pro-Israel rally proves that grass-roots support for the Jewish state remains
unchanged, with pro-Israel supporters filling the streets of Helsinki on an
average of once every 2 to 3 years over the past decade."

The Finnish political
establishment, he added, "maintains a friendly relationship with Israel, more so than the
neighboring states of Sweden and Norway. But Finland has proven time and again
to hide behind the skirts of international institutions like the EU and the UN,
and will usually vote according to how the majority votes.“ They plan to attend
this years Durban III conference in New York, as they did a couple of years ago
at Durban II in Geneva Switzerland.”

Sikorksi, who lives in Finland and
is editor-in-chief of the popular Tundra Tabloids website, which monitors
hatred of Israel in the Scandinavian countries, added that “Yes they walked out
during Ahamdinejad's speech but not until it became clear that other member
states participating were doing the same.“

He said the Finnish Foreign
Ministry told him that in connection with Durban III, the “Finns wish to
influence the other participants to moderation, and that can't be done if
Finland doesn't participate itself. The fact that the anti-Israel platform to
these events are hammered out way in advance did not register at all with the
press secretary.”

Sikorski said there is not an ”official Finnish
position on the [Palestinian statehood bid in the UN] situation, “adding that “the present mindset of the present
FM (SDP), which tells me that if he had the chance to influence the Finnish
government, he would vote for the recognizing of a Palestinian
state.”

Suninen said that the goal of the pro-Israel rally
was” to get a message to the Finnish government, which unfortunately, right now
contains some Israel-haters like Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.”

Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>

The Jerusalem Post Customer Service Center can be contacted with any questions or requests:
Telephone: *2421 * Extension 4 Jerusalem Post or 03-7619056 Fax: 03-5613699E-mail: subs@jpost.com
The center is staffed and provides answers on Sundays through Thursdays between 07:00 and 14:00 and Fridays only handles distribution requests between 7:00 and
13:00
For international customers: The center is staffed and provides answers on Sundays through Thursdays between 7AM and 6PM
Toll Free number in Israel only 1-800-574-574
Telephone +972-3-761-9056
Fax: 972-3-561-3699
E-mail: subs@jpost.com